Ratchet's Reason
by ToonQueen
Summary: Transformers Animated. This is written in Ratchet's point of view. His reason for becoming an Autobot right before the beginning of the Great War.


There was a short stellar cycle between when bots were picking a faction and when the actual war was declared. I was neutral during that time. Back then being neutral didn't have all the negative qualities attached to it. A neutral then wasn't a shady backstabber that played both sides. Back then being a neutral meant that you hoped the two sides would come back together. Being a neutral meant you did not want to abandoned friends on either side. You wished to Primus every lunar cycle that things would not escalate. You watched helplessly as it did just that.

I was the only med bot in my side of town that was neutral. Both the other bots in my practice had left. I didn't ask what sides they took. All the nurses had left too, leaving my secretary to get a crash course in being a medical assistant. She was a neutral too. I knew that wouldn't last forever. Her Decepticon boyfriend would sometimes walk her home.

Mostly neutrals saw me. There were a few Autobots and Decepticons once and awhile. Sometimes a Con and an Autobot would show up around the same time. Yelling at them usually worked. They would then separate and go to their sides of the room.

It became annoying when word got out who I was. Before the dividing of sides I was declared one of the one of the greatest medical minds on Cybertron. Once it spread I had more Autobot and Decepticon patients, leading to more conflicts in my waiting room. The injuries I was facing now looked more like battle wounds. There was fighting in the streets by this time. Both sides were at the brink of declaring it an all out war.

My clinic was no longer a sanctuary untouched by the conflict. Everyday had a new fight I had to deal with. Both sides would try to recruit me. They learned fast not to do that. They didn't want to leave more damaged then they came in with.

Then one day the clinic was eerily slow. Some of my regular patients came in with the usual alignment needs or a plate out of place. A young Decepticon came in later that day. He was very quiet and looked a bit startled. The young bot had some minor damage on his chest plate. It probably didn't hurt that much. His startled appearance was probably due to how he got the wound, and not from the wound itself. He went up the desk and spoke with my secretary as I was still busy helping another patient.

A nanoclick later a Prime looking Autobot came in. She was accompanied by a soldier. When I was done with my current patient I stepped out to the waiting room to assess what needed to be done next. The Autobot Prime's lower arm was completely smashed. It was as though something fell on the appendage, crushing it. The military's 'chop shops' could fix it, but the fingers wouldn't have the same dexterity they once had. She must of heard about my skills and wanted it fixed properly.

I can't really recall what she looked like, but I remember her presence. She had a commanding and intimidating feel about her. She seemed confident even with a useless arm. She did nothing to scare the Decepticon in the room. The Autobot Prime did not even look at him. The young bot still tensed up in fright.

She could have manipulated the situation. Just standing there intimidated the Decepticon into silence. The Autobot could of demanded to be fixed first. Because of her presence, I think would of given in and done so. I must have looked stunned for her to command me the way she did.

"He was here first," the Prime said as she sat in the chair across the room from the young Decepticon. Her voice was stern, as though she was ordering around one of her soldiers. The Decepticon didn't have to be told to go into the back medical room. He scurried past me and went through the door. I could hear him clattering to climb the medical table.

The Prime sat with her guard watching over her. After letting the Decepticon rightfully go ahead of her she just sat their and waited for her turn, like any regular bot would do. She wasn't a neutral, but despite her place of power she had treated the Decepticon as an equal. I 'ahehed' when I should of said thanks to her. I began to work on the Decepticon patient.

I wasn't even able to pick up the welder when the whole office shook with an explosion. It knocked me to the floor. Dust and debris made it hard to see. I heard the young bot make a grunt noise, as though he had been knocked around too. The explosion had come from the waiting room. I got up quickly to see the boy was alright, just a little shook up. Then I went into the waiting room.

As the dust cleared I saw there was no longer a wall between the med rooms and the waiting room. There was no longer a front to the building as well. Two Decepticons stood a short distance away. Somewhat farther away was my secretary, yelling at her Decepticon boyfriend. She had been in the waiting room at the time of the hit. I could tell by all the dust on her plating.

I looked at the chaos around me. The Prime's guard was decimated. He must have taken the brunt of the explosion. The Prime herself was crumpled up in the corner, thrown by the blast. Her colors had already went grey. I still rushed over to check for vital signs. None. She had made the right choice of letting the Decepticon go first, and died for it.

The secretary was still yelling at her boyfriend. It wasn't sensible things. All I clearly remember was, 'Why did you let them do it while I was in the room?' I knew where her loyalties were now. The other two Cons were laughing. I found myself enraged.

I went to the medical room not needing to use a door. THe young bot was dazed. His processors had not taken in what happened. He was climbing back on the med table to be examined as though nothing happened.

I grabbed the large magnets meant for taken large dents out of bigger bots. What happened next is scrambled in my memory processors. I know I threw the two laughing Cons into the secretary's boyfriend. Thank Primus she ducked. If she hadn't I would of hit her her with the Cons before they collided with her boyfriend. I wasn't fully paying attention. Its not clear what I did next. I now I didn't kill them, but I know they wouldn't walk away either.

I came back in the med room and dropped the magnets on the floor. The young Decepticon was still sitting on the med table. He was frozen in terror. With the lack of walls he had seen everything I had done to the other Cons. I heard Autobot sirens in the distance.

I picked up the welding tool and fixed the young Con. The bot stayed still the whole time. For a short moment life was normal again. He would be the last Decepticon I would fix as a neutral. War was officially declared five days after I became an Autobot.


End file.
